Clash
by Speaker-to-trolls
Summary: The Titans are finally meeting the Justice League, the heroes' heroes, but the thought of being under tighter controls from his old mentor does not sit well with the Boy Wonder.


**Notes**

First Story on this website, at least for a long time, this was very easy to write, which makes me a bit wary about publishing it, it's also probably rather short. Oh well, please tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer: Teen Titans and Justice League Animated/Unlimited are not mine and I make no claims on them, they are the property of DC Comics, Warner Brothers Animation and various and sundry other people involved in their creation, I do not wish to claim otherwise and I certainly don't wish to try to make money from the work of other, harder working and more talented people than me. Please, everyone, there is no need for the release of any hounds, ninjas, lawyers or werewolf ninja-lawyers, please give those guys some private time, I think they've earned it.**

* * *

Holding itself in place high over the blue haze of the Earth's atmosphere, the Watchtower of the Justice League hung, proud and inviolable, shining against the dead black of space. Built from wondrous materials and technologies from the farthest reaches of the cosmos, holding a thousand weapons and machines utterly unknown to the human race, home to an army of people who might well be called gods, it was a rare man who didn't look on this place with at least a trace of awe.

Richard Grayson, better known to the world as Robin, felt for reasons of his own that he would prefer not to show any of the awe he felt as he circled the great fortress in his own spacecraft, which in comparison was really rather small and makeshift. He felt the best way to do this was not to look directly at it, concentrate on the heartlessly functional reports given to him by the craft's computer, and do his best to ignore the excited chatter of his four companions.

'_Hey, hey guys, did you see that? Look! Look right there, around the landing bay; that is totally Green Lantern! I cannot believe I am actually going to meet the Green Lantern!' _the voice of Garfield Logan, alias Beast Boy, became a kind of enthusiastic squeak.

'_Man, this day is going to make my __**year**__!' _The deep voice of Victor Stone, descriptively known as Cyborg, came across almost giddily. '_I mean Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter...'_

'_The Flash, Wonder Woman... Mm, Wonder Woman...' _Beast Boy added dreamily to the roster, Robin groaned and pinched the bridge of nose, ignoring chatter should not have required so much effort.

'We're coming up on the landing bay now; Star, how are we for distance?' he asked, determinedly unexcited.

'_Oh, Robin, do you not feel joyous anticipation fill your body and cause your spirit to quiver and buzz like a Krysaryan stone-moth readying itself to burst forth from its cocoon?' _ The normally welcome voice of his long time friend and comrade and recent girlfriend, Starfire, was... loud. He needed to do something about her microphone.

'I've seen the Watchtower before, Star, it's not that big a deal for me, so how are we for distance?'

'_Our distance is inside the limits of safety,' _she replied, with a horrible shade of reproach in her voice, she soon dismissed it, though, '_but are you truly not full of joy to be visiting the Watchful Tower, and to meet with the Earth's most glorious champions? Are you not excited to see your K'norfka the Man of Bats after all these years?'_

No, he thought, excited was not the word he would have chosen. Still, he despaired of ever explaining his relationship with his adoptive father even to himself.

'_I think perhaps Robin just believes we should all be a bit more reserved when we meet the League, we're going to meet them as fellow heroes, so that's how we should think of them and how we should act, not like a bunch of squealing fangirls,'_ thank God for Raven, he thought, without even a trace of irony.

'_Aww, you two are no fun! Don't you have any sense of wonder left? I mean we're going to meet Superman, freaking __**Superman!**__' _Beast Boy insisted, Robin had no doubt he was waving his hands emphatically and possibly even imitating the Man of Steel, to get his point across.

'_Oh don't worry about Raven, BB, I don't think she's as stoic as she makes out,' _Cyborg said with a tone of sly superiority.

'_What are you talking about?_' Raven asked with an almost perfect appearance of indifferent ignorance.

'_Oh, so I guess you always take that many books on magic and philosophy when we leave the tower for a few days?' _He asked with what sounded like a smirk, '_Funny, I really hadn't noticed, I also hadn't noticed you wearing eyeliner before...'_

'_Huh, eyeliner? Raven's wearing makeup? What's going on?' _Beast Boy asked incredulously.

'_I suppose I'm not allowed to wear makeup, Beast Boy? I guess that would interfere with my role as creepy recluse, right?' _Raven said, quickly and defensively, Robin gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes, able to see very clearly where this was going.

'_No! It's just, well, I've never seen you wearing makeup before, I just thought you didn't need it...'_

Beast Boy's frantic floundering was interrupted by a confident explanation from Cyborg, _'Oh, she doesn't wear it usually, BB, only when she's going somewhere she might run into a certain Mr Jason Blood,'_

Robin felt his spirits sink, he'd forgotten about Jason Blood, and to a lesser extent Zatanna and Dr Fate.

Et tu, Corve, he thought.

'_Yes, there are some very skilled magic-users with the Justice League, I want to talk to them about some books, spells, magic stuff,' _she said, sounding less convincing with every word.

'_Uh-huh, so your new appreciation for Max Factor is because...?'_ Cyborg asked smugly.

'_The girl in the shop said I had nice eyes, she said I ought to draw more attention to them,' _she answered quietly as the airwaves were filled with taunting sounds from Cyborg and Beast Boy and genuine enthusiasm from Starfire, thrilled that Raven was apparently getting into the spirit of things.

Robin resisted the urge to bring his head down on his control panel as his earphones buzzed. This was only going to get worse.

* * *

Bruce Wayne, known equally well to the world as Batman, glanced up at the imposing figure of John Stewart, Green Lantern of Sector 2844, as he dropped to the floor of the hangar bay and the green haze which surrounded him faded away. 'There, the ship's alright, they ought to be setting down in a few minutes,' the ex-marine told him, then gave Batman an accusatory look, 'you know, I'm still not entirely comfortable with your boy flying a ship like that, you realise that in the wrong hands that thing could cause unbelievable damage?'

'Good thing it's not in the wrong hands, then,' Batman answered breezily.

'Uh-huh, all five of those kids are qualified to fly an interstellar spaceship?' John asked, incredulously.

'Those kids include a boy tutored by Mento of the Doom Patrol since he was eight, a cybernetically enhanced genius and an alien trained in the use of all kinds of interstellar vehicles,' Batman countered, not feeling he needed to expand on his former sidekick's credentials.

'OK, so what about Robin and, uh,' the Lantern took a second to recall the final member of the team, 'Raptor?'

'Raven,' Batman supplied, he could see the ship coming into view, 'the others have instructed her in the use of the spaceship, and I've taught Robin everything I know about piloting,'

John smiled a very small smile, 'Bet that didn't take long, no offence, Bruce, you're the world's greatest at a lot of things, but piloting is not one of them,'

'If you've got a problem with their piloting you should probably take it up with Starfire,' he looked at the cosmic enforcer pointedly, 'or Her Glorious Highness, as we ought to say,'

John's smile broadened, 'Nice try, Bruce, I'm afraid diplomatic immunity doesn't work the same way for the Corps as it does on Earth, but nice try.'

There were two very different sounds of wind to his left, and he turned around unsurprised to see the athletic, red-clad form of the Flash appear at his side and to catch Shayera Hol, formerly known to the world as Hawkgirl, descending from a higher mezzanine. 'Hey guys, kids not here yet?' Flash asked, scanning the landing bay idly.

'Still arriving, their ship'll be docked in a moment,' said John, he barely managed to look at the winged woman as she landed next to Flash, 'Shayera,' he greeted tersely.

'John,' she returned in the same tone, then turned to Batman, 'so, exactly what are we going to show the Little League when they arrive?'

'Just a general tour of the facilities,' Batman said, 'training rooms, armouries, command room, information centre...'

Shayera's eyes widened 'Information Centre? You're kidding, right? We're going to introduce these kids to Question?' Batman looked directly at her without any change in expression, she raised her eyebrows, then, after a few moments, shrugged resignedly.

'I've got to agree, Bats, I'm not sure Question's the best guy to introduce the kids to if you want to get them to join the League in full, I mean he freaks me out and I've been at this a lot longer than they have,' the Flash paused, considered something and leaned in towards Batman. 'You know, actually, there's something I need to ask you here; when you say _Teen_ Titans what kind of teen are we talking about here?'

'Oh God, Wally, you didn't!' Shayera said despairingly.

'What?' Flash asked, pretending not to see the problem, Batman simply looked at him with narrowed eyes until he turned away and looked to Shayera for support.

The alien woman's expression softened a little from her earlier disbelief and disapproval, 'ok, here they come, this ought to be fun,' she did not sound as if she believed that. Batman frowned, the Titans' opinions on the one-time spy was something he hadn't been able to determine. In front of them the Titans' spaceship hovered cautiously into the mouth of the landing bay and another sound of rushing air behind him heralded the arrival of two more of the original seven members.

'Sorry if we're late, there was a psychic plague in Russia threatening to cause revolution and international war,' the apology came in the smooth, resonant tones of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.

'Ares, who else?' The slightly weary and irritated voice could only have belonged to Diana of Themiskyra, known universally as Wonder Woman. She offered Batman a smile as he turned to face her, he gave her a nod and a less stern expression than he usually wore, 'So how do you feel about showing your protégé the League's inner workings, Bruce?'

Batman considered for a second, 'Optimistic, Diana, I think he'll learn a lot from this, and believe me, he's earned the right to be up here,' not that he would say as much to Robin's face, no good making things too easy for him.

As the Titan's spaceship extended its stilt-mounted wheels and lowered itself to the ground there was a final sound of rushing air, then with only a faint rustling as his long red cape brushed against his body. Superman, known to some as Kal-El and a privileged few as Clark Kent, descended in front of his friends. He smiled like a patriotic poster from a bygone age, and even Batman couldn't stop a slight smirk at the image; it fit Earth's most famous hero so well, however he might deny it. 'Glad to see I'm not late for the tour,' he said brightly.

'No, just in time,' said Batman, and nodded as Superman took his place in the lineup. Normally the Man of Steel would stand directly in the centre, but by unspoken agreement that place belonged to Batman today. The events that were unfolding really had more to do with him than with any of the rest of them.

Five doors opened on the spaceship before them, things were going to get more interesting from here.


End file.
